More and more homes have access to the Internet via a broadband connection. Broadband connection speeds of 1 to 4 megabits per second are commonplace and are increasing with it being likely that connection speeds of 16 megabits per second or more will be widely available in the near to medium term.
The market for DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs) carrying DVD multimedia data files comprising, for example, films (movies) music videos or the like has increased significantly in recent years. DVD multimedia data files are, of course, much larger than music data files so that, for example, it may take five, six or more hours to download a complete DVD multimedia disc image file. Given the popularity of music data file downloading, it is likely that the ability to download DVD multimedia data files would prove popular, if the download time was reasonable, for example less than an hour to download a complete DVD multimedia data file.
One way to reduce the download time for a DVD multimedia data file is to further compress the data beyond that which it is compressed in native DVD format. However, such compression will generally detrimentally affect the navigation and interactive features of the DVD multimedia data files so that, for example, the compressed DVD multimedia data file would no longer enable a user to navigate through the DVD multimedia data file to select special features provided within the DVD multimedia data file or to select a particular chapter or sequence of scenes of the DVD multimedia data file, or to select one of a multitude of audio streams (audio languages) or sub picture streams (subtitles).
Another issue is that the compressed DVD multimedia data file would generally have been downloaded to a user's personal computer which will generally have inferior audio visual capabilities to the user's home cinema or home entertainment system and, moreover, would probably not be positioned in the location in which the user prefers to watch films, music videos and the like.
A further issue is that of ensuring that the copyright owner is appropriately recompensed for the use made of downloaded material which means preventing or inhibiting production of direct digital copies (“ripping”) of downloaded DVD multimedia data files.